Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1423099AbXBUXfW (ORCPT ); Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:35:22 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1945913AbXBUXfV (ORCPT ); Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:35:21 -0500 Received: from mailrly05.isp.novis.pt ([195.23.133.215]:49184 "EHLO mailrly05.isp.novis.pt" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1423099AbXBUXfV (ORCPT ); Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:35:21 -0500 X-Greylist: delayed 400 seconds by postgrey-1.27 at vger.kernel.org; Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:35:20 EST Message-ID: <45DCD61B.7000804@vgertech.com> Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:30:35 +0000 From: Nuno Silva User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.5 (X11/20060812) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "Michael K. Edwards" CC: davids@webmaster.com, v j , trent.waddington@gmail.com, "Linux-Kernel@Vger. Kernel. Org" , Neil Brown Subject: Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers References: <3d57814d0702191458l1021caeyaefd7775398c5f2a@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: X-Enigmail-Version: 0.94.0.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1223 Lines: 35 Michael K. Edwards wrote: > Actually, it's quite clear under US law what a derivative work is and > what rights you need to distribute it, and equally clear that > compiling code does not make a "translation" in a copyright sense. > Read Micro Star v. Formgen -- it's good law and it's funny and > readable. Hello. [Sorry for deleting the rest of the email but it was quite large] I can see that your argument is all about the defenition of a "derivative work". We all know that #include is mostly non copyrightable, so I mostly agree that some - very very simple - modules may not need to include the source when distributing the resulting module.ko. (need = from a legal standpoint... The intended spirit of the GPL is another story) In this context what do you think about porting Linux to another arch? Does the people porting the OS needs to distribute the source with the [compiled] kernel? (Yes, it's a trick question) IANAL too. Regards, Nuno Silva - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/